Enjoy the Simple Things

When you bring your awareness to the simple things, your whole life becomes simpler. Your problems are made in the mind and usually are complex stories that justify why you should feel sad or angry.

Pay attention to the simple things in life. The smallest thing makes up the most happiness if you pay it attention.

For example, one simple thing that can put you in a state of great joy is focusing on your breathing. This could be in the form of meditation or you could just pay attention to your breath as often as you can.

The simple things we can pay attention to are really right in front of us now. Everyone is always looking elsewhere for their happiness. That is an endless journey.

If you look at what is in front of you now and really give it your full attention, you will find beauty in everything. When you find something beautiful, it means that you can sense the energy that is within it. At the same time, you feel it inside yourself. This why the smallest thing makes the best happiness.

Pay Attention to Nature

Nature is one of my favorite small things to enjoy. It is small but the entirety of it is vast. These pictures may look very high quality, but this is a good representation of what things look like when you really give them your full attention.

When you're in nature touch something, smell something. See what you see without your mind labeling everything. Just experience what is right under your nose and between your fingertips. That is how you "find happiness."

This kind of feeling you will get from giving your attention to nature will be much deeper than happiness. Happiness with feel shallow after you experience the beauty of what is in front of you.

Coffee is another great simple thing to enjoy. I love every step of the way. Every sip is a piece of bliss. Coffee in the morning should be alone time to enjoy it. You can get things done while you drink coffee or you can simply sip away for an hour.

Most people are in a rush to drink it and get out the door or take it with them. I use coffee time as a meditation. I become very aware of the taste, the energy boost, and the stillness in the room as I drink it.

Don't Seek Happiness

If you look for happiness in the world of form, you will have many ups and downs. You will never be satisfied with what you have and you will always want more. More money, better relationships, more cars, more clothes, more ice cream.

All these things are okay as long as you do not use them for your sense of happiness. The trick is not to get attached to these things.

Ultimately everything is impermanent except for your true nature.

Inside your true nature, you will find peace, joy, love, and the bliss of being alive. This is where true happiness stems from. Sadly, this is a secret that not many have found out yet.

Stop chasing happiness. It is nowhere to be found. Start tearing off the layers of unhappiness inside of you by observing them as they arise in you. When an emotion comes up, don't run from it. Don't try to get rid of it by searching for happiness outside yourself. Don't use ice cream or people to get rid of that feeling of sadness.

Observe the emotion as it comes up. Don't let it take over your thinking. Don't let the emotion reach your mind. Feel it in the body. Stop the cycle of thinking to stop the unhappiness.

Once you observe an emotion or a thought, you will no longer be sucked into believing it as the truth. When you observe, you are no longer the emotion, it does not take you over. You no longer act it out or judge it as good or bad.

The light of your consciousness will dissolve the emotion and will leave you with a sense of peace and lightness.

It will be scary at first.

Your awareness is like a flashlight pointed into the darkness inside you. When you observe the emotion, it dissolves into light.

If you feel the need to express the emotion, let it out. Find an outlet. Don't let these the past emotions in you survive. Don't put it off to another time. How much more time do you need before you will allow no more pain in you.

So come into this moment. Focus on your breathing. Ask yourself if there is any resistance inside of you at this moment. If there is, know that there is. Be the knowing, not the known. This means to be the one who observes the emotion, not the emotion itself.

Look around you!

I suggest that you start to pay attention to what you see in front of you before going elsewhere for happiness and peace.

To see what is in front of you and be grateful for what you have no matter if you like it or not is true happiness.

"Don't look for peace. Don't look for any other state than the one you are in now. Enter peace from there."—Eckhart Tolle